


Those Left To Fight

by cuddler_of_words



Series: Tales Of The War For Cybertron [2]
Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-24
Updated: 2014-04-24
Packaged: 2018-01-20 15:02:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1514759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuddler_of_words/pseuds/cuddler_of_words
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elita had once rushed through these same halls, data-pads piled up in her hands as she moved between her classes. Now they were silent, the scholars having fled to Iacon and the inhabitants of the surrounding city deserting in the early days of the war.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Those Left To Fight

The breach in the shield's perimeter was small, barely a blip on the radar, but after all these years of war Elita had learnt to treat every detail as a knife edge between life or death. After all it was this tenacity, bordering on obsessive paranoia, that had kept her and her team alive for so long.

"Greenlight, come and look at this." Elita said, looking over her shoulder and motioning for Greenlight to join her at the monitor. 

"You're worried about a blip?" Greenlight asked, staring critically at the pulsating white glow. "Apart from us, everybody who knows about that passage is probably long dead by now. There's no way that it could be as serious as 'Cons."

"And yet there's been a breach."

"Probably turbofoxes."

"I'm going to go look. Keep watch until I get back."

"If you say so."

Elita turned away from the console, walking out into the hallway and heading for the rec room. Her footsteps echoed in the empty corridors, and hanging cables brushed past her head. Once this building had thrived, a great archive and a centre of learning. Elita had once moved through these same halls, data-pads piled up in her hands as she rushed between her classes. Now they were silent, the scholars having fled to Iacon and the inhabitants of the surrounding city deserting in the early days of the war.  
The sounds of shouts grew louder as she neared the rec room, reaching a crescendo as she opened the doors to find Chromia and Moonracer sparring, Firestar standing in a corner and calling out advice. Moonracer's intakes whirred rapidly as Chromia advanced on her with a long training pole, closing in while Moonracer struggled to counter. All it took was a feint to the left and Chromia had her opening, using her pole to sweep Moonracer's feet out from under her and send her crashing to the floor. Moonracer giggled as she struggled to sit up and grinned when she saw Elita standing in the doorway.

"Commander!" She cried, struggling to her feet and attempting to salute at the same time.

"At ease, Moonracer." Elita replied, walking into the room. Firestar left her corner to join her two teammates, coming to stand between them.

"Have you come to spar with us Elita?" Chromia asked.

"No, unfortunately not. There's been a small breach in the shield and I want to investigate." Elita replied.

"Is it serious?" Chromia asked, concern edging her voice.

"It's probably nothing, but you know me." Elita smiled. "Chromia, if you can find Lancer and Flareup at the lab and take them with you to check that the record vault is secure, I'll take Firestar and Moonracer with me to check the breach. Greenlight is in the control room, go to her if anything happens, and keep your comm. lines open at all times.

"Right. I'll be on my way." Chromia said, walking past Elita and out the door, and Moonracer darted over to the edge of the training mat where she picked up her crossbow and slotted it into place on her arm.

"All ready to go, Commander!" She said with a grin, and Chromia shook her head, trying to hide exasperation. Moonracer's enthusiasm was appreciated, a welcome relief in their dire circumstances, but Chromia harboured a worry that Moonracer's naivety would one day get her killed.

Together the three of them walked out of the rec room and started navigating the corridors, Greenlight guiding them over the comm. 

"The entrance where the breach was registered leads straight into a maintenance hatch." Greenlight relayed, her voice muffled by the electrical interference of the energy sheilding system that surrounded the archive building. "The hatch goes on for a while, lots of twists and turns, but ends up at a docking bay. Only one way in and out, so you shouldn't have too hard a time shooing out any stray turbofoxes."

"Forget shooing the away, I'll use them for target practice!" Moonracer laughed.

"You'll be arriving at the docking bay shortly. Bring me back it's head on a plaque and maybe I'll be impressed."

"Please, I'm the best sharpshooter this side of the galaxy, I'll get it right through the opti--"

Moonracer was cut off as Elita raised her hand and motioned for her and Firestar to stop walking. Firestar glanced forwards, her mouth curving into a frown. Slowly it became apparent that there was a low murmuring coming from the end of corridor. Elita motioned Firestar and Moonracer to move forwards, keeping Greenlight updated via her internal comm. link system. The murmuring grew louder as they reached the end of the corridor and Elita realised that, by some trick or stroke of luck, intruders had made it past the shield.  
The end of the corridor was coming into sight, the door to the docking bay buckled and charred so that it only barred half of the doorway. Elita slipped around it and then motioned for Firestar and Moonracer to follow her in and crouch down beside a large stack of crates. From the raised gangway they had a clear view of the room, straight down at the abandoned cargo crates and the band of intruders attempting to clamber out of the maintenance hatch without tripping over the long coils of tubes and wiring that were scattered over the bay floors.

\--Shoot to kill? -- Firestar asked over the internal comm. as she peered around the crate. Elita shook her hand, but heard Firestar's wrist cannons power up in anticipation.

\--I call dibs on the one with the visor!-- Moonracer announced.

\--You'll wait for my call, Moonracer. That's an order.-- Elita countered, and leaned around the edge of the crate to assess her options. There were four intruders in total: one looking around the docking bay, two trying to untangle their feet from the mess on the floor, and one still prying themselves from the vent. She was too far away to see any identifying sigils, no way to tell if they were Autobots or Decepticons.

"You sure we came in the right way?" One of them was saying.

"It has been a long while since I have been in this place, but I am sure that we are not lost." Replied the intruder surveying the docking bay. Their voice was familiar, Elita realised with a start, one that she was sure she had once heard within the walls of the archive itself. 

"I hope you're right, I ain't gonna crawl through another one of those ducts."

\--So? What's your call?-- Firestar asked, her wrist cannons glowing blue.

\--The red and blue one… I've heard their voice before-- Elita replied, struggling to remember a name.

There was a loud thud as the last intruder managed to finally squirm out of the duct, landing in a heap on the floor. They struggled to stand, but Elita swore over the comm. line when she saw that their wrist cannons had activated.

"We're not alone here, my sensors are picking up three life signatures!" They growled. Elita heard Firestar gasp and swear as Moonracer stood, her crossbow aimed and ready to fire.

"Alright, uglies, which one of you wants to be snuffed first?" Moonracer laughed, startling the group below.

"Moonracer!" Elita and Firestar cried in unison, Firestar trying to drag Moonracer back down behind the crate as Elita jumped to her feet. One of the intruders fired and Elita managed to haul Moonracer out of range as the blast seared into the wall behind them.

"Pulsar, hold your fire!" Yelled the intruder with the familiar voice, and Elita cursed her memory-- remembering the name was like trying to cup water in her hands, it kept slipping out of reach.

"But… but Prime! She was going to shoot!" The intruder named Pulsar shouted, and everything in Elita's mind ground to a halt. The familiar intruder was a Prime?

"Hold your fire. I… I recognise one of them." Said the Prime, pushing down Pulsar's weapon. Elita pulled herself up to the railing, staring down at the Prime while Firestar swore viciously over the comm.

"Ariel?" The Prime said, his voice so quiet that Elita had to strain her audios just to hear it. The sound of her old name gave her a shiver that coursed through her circuits as the memory clicked into place.

 

"Oh, by Primus, Orion is that really you?"


End file.
